When I was commenting on the current situation in Pakistan, it made me think of the situation of the Pravda in Russia. After reading Animal Farm, by George Orwell, each person in my high school class had to choose a figure in the book and relate it to its Russian counterpart. I chose Squealer, a pig who represented the Pravda. Animal Farm is a social commentary about the Russian Revolution and the effects on the people of Russia. The Pravda were the gatekeepers of information, and their gates were almost always barred. The only things that seeped out were what the leaders of the communist party wanted the people to know. Media cannot work to provide anything useful to the public if it is not allowed to operate freely. To this degree, I would like to propose an old, reliable call to arms: Freedom of the Press. Then I shall add: Democracy for all mediums! Through the control of the media, the Russian government did not allow its people to know of the horrors that were taking place, keeping the people in check. The thought makes me ill.
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